Prison Blues
by BoredorBoard
Summary: Shawn is finally arrested for interfearing in a federal investigation that was taken away from the SBPD. With no new leads, Detective Lassiter goes behind everyone's back and consults with Shawn on the case.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: After years of being stuck with the obnoxious fake psychic, Carlton Lassiter is finally free of Shawn Spencer. He was locked tightly away in prison for hindering a federal investigation. However Lassiter is not as pleased at all with how things turnned out. He realizes how important Shawn really was to the team and goes behind everyones back and asks Shawn to help him with a serial killer case. He also realizes prison is just as bad for a fake Psychic who put his fair share of convicts in as it would be for a police officer.

* * *

Carlton was fuming. They had finnaly been handed the case of the year, and now it was being violently ripped away from them by the FBI. It was a serial killer, and apparently Santa Barbra was the fifth stop on the Killers tour de America, the others being Portland, Maine; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Worth, texas; and Seattle, Washington. In each case there had been twelve victims before the killer moved on, each murder was always a month apart. It was the second of the killings and Shawn had caught on almost instantly and ,flamboyantly, shared his information via 'psychic visions' to the whole presinct. After varifying the information the SBPD began working on the case. And now a week later the feds have decided to take over jurisdiction.

"Hey Lassie face, what's hanging." Shawn asked as he bounded across the presinct, stopping in front of the more-angry-than-usual detective. He then noticed the two feds that were in Cheif Vick's office, and the livid expression on her face. "So, what's with the suits?"

"They're FBI." Carlton growled. "And their taking over jurisdiction on the serial killer case we just got our hands on."

"Well, that sucks. I think we earned this case." Shawn pouted.

The door to cheif Vick's office oppened and the two federal agents filed out, not bothering to shut the door behind them. They were about to leave the building when the taller one with the gelled black hair stopped and eyed Shawn with recognition. "What the hell is a civilian doing here?"

"On contrair agent greasy-head, I am more than a civilian, I am the department's residant psychic." Shawn answered.

"Bullshit, HE is no psychic."

"Ah, I see you are a skeptic. You have yet to see me dazzle you with my other worldly skills."

Carlton let out a sigh from beside Shawn. "He is the one that figured out that the newest victims are related to all of the other killings, and he has a perfect track record on all of his cases." he said, defending Shawn. Shawn was a little stunned by Carlton's reaction defence, he couldnt figure out why the detective would openly defend him like that.

"Then you have all been fooled." The fed said loud enough for most of the presinct to hear. "Shawn Spencer is no psychic." the agent's voice growled out shawn's name as it flew out of his lips.

"Woah, you must be a psychic yourself, how did you know my name?" Shawn asked trying to play it cool, but he was beginning to get nervous.

"What? Don't you remember me Shawn? I thought it would be pretty damn hard for you to forget me."

"What are you talking about?"

"We knew each other in collage. You could say that you left quite an impression on me."

"Sorry, I'm drawing blanks buddie."

"Does the name Jared Fissure jog that impressive memory of yours?" As soon as the agent said the name Shawn's eyes widened as what he did to Jared came flooding back to him.

[i/] Shawn was a Junior and Jared was a Senior, weeks away from the end of the year and Jared was graduating with high honors. That is until Shawn found out that Jared had been cheating and skillfully plagurizing all semester, at least that was all he was aware of. The only way he knew this was because he would occasionally be the victim of jared's cheating and his psychology professor had found out. The choice was to either rat Jared out or take the blame on himself and take the class over again, and Shawn was definatly not going to do all of that mundane work again. Jared had been reported to the Dean and expelled from the university. What all happened beyond that was a mystery to him. [/i]

"Shit." Shawn muttered, his eyes as wide as a dear in the headlights.

"It's time for a little payback don't you think Shawn?"

"No." Shawn said quickly. "Please don't. That was like forever ago, and you've obviously done pretty good for yourself. You can't do it." Shawn pleaded.

This time it was Carlton's time to be surprised. He had never seen the psychic beg before, not seriously at least. A quick glance told him that everyone in the presinct was now paying attention to what was being said by agent Fissure.

"Like I was saying before, your psychic isn't psychic at all detective." The agent began again. He played like he was speaking only to Carlton, but he made sure that everyone was hanging off his every word. "Shawn here has edidic memory. More commonly known as photographic memory. He's not psychic, he's just hyper observant."

Carlton looked over at Shawn. The expression on his face confirmed what the agent was saying. The fake psychic was paper white, and fear reflected in his eyes. For once the two of them had a common thought, what was going to happen now?

"Detective, arrest Mr. Spencer for hindering police investigation."

"He may not be a psychic, but he's still a privit detective." Carlton tried, so he wouldn't have to arrest Shawn.

"Actually Lassie, I'm not. Not officialy." Shawn said quietly. "Psychic's aren't reqired to carry a permit, so i never got one. Henry told me to, but I never did."

With that Shawn's hopes were shatterd and Agent Fissure was grinning triumphantly.

"Now detective if you will."

"No." Carlton growled. Screw the rules, he had reached his limits with the feds. Sure he would have eventually let the case go, but now they were taking away his psychic. Wait a minute, his psychic? Carlton shook away the thought to stew on later, now he had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Lassie, it's okay." Shawn said weakly. "I won't blame you, it's your job after all."

That was it. "I won't do it Spencer." Carlton half yelled, making half of the presinct jump. "I will not be the one who arrests you. you may not care, but it would be on my record and conciounce, and I do care. You have helped us all out on multiple cases in the past, and as much of a pain in the ass you've been, you are an important member of this team."

"Very touching detective." The fed drawled. "Would anyone else care to do the honors?" Agent Fissure asked waiting for someone to step forward. However after Carlton's little speach no one dared move. He was right, Shawn was one of them, and as a cop you do not turn your back on your own. "Fine, I guess the pleasure is all mine.

Fissure grabbed Shawn's arm forcefully and began to cuff him. "Shawn Spencer, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you..."

The rest of what the agent was saying as he led Shawn away faded away as Shawn was led away. Shawn glanced back at Carlton with a strained smile on his face, one that Carlton knew was thanking him. Agent Fissure then shoved Shawn forward forcefully and Shawn was now looking in front of himself.

Carlton turnned away and saw that Juliet was standing behind him. She then reached out into her purse and handed him her hankerchief. Carlton stared at her quizically. Then she nodded knowingly before explaining herself. "Carlton, you're crying."

He reached up and put a hand to his face, and he felt the wetness. He wiped away his tears with Juliet's hankerchief an then stared at the dampened cloth. He knew what these tears represented, failure. He had failed Shawn, just like he failed Victoria, except this failure resulted in the arrest of a, dare he say it, a friend. Sure they were a disfunctional duo, but they were friends in thier own unspoken sort of way. And now it was up to him to be the bearer of bad news to Gus and Henry.

* * *

A/N: Please tell me what you think... sorry for any gramatical errors, i wrote this at 3 in the morning and cleaned it up the best i could w/o a spell check.

I also have a poll involving Shawn and Lassie's relationship. Would you prefer Shassie (Shawn/Carlton) or would you prefer a friendship fic?

~Legal


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: Mentions of shawn-whumpage

Edit: I added something I forgot in the middle, just a breif mention of somthing that Shawn told Lassie to tell to Gus.

* * *

**3 months later**

It had been three months since Shawn had been arrested, and with those three months came three more victims. Because of how crazy and stressing the case was, none of the officers had been able to go to visit Shawn, but occasionally one will talk to Gus or Shawn's Dad. Although it is common knowledge that if you want a current update, Gus is the man to go to.

It was times like these that Carlton really missed Shawn, sure he was annoyingly flamboyant, but he was a genius at solving crime. The (confirmed) fact that he did it all without the aid of 'spirits' made him that much more amazing. Chief Vick had managed to get the FBI to work side by side with the SBPD on the serial killer case. They agreed to this as long as they got the full cooperation of the detectives. Carlton was less than happy about this, and probably would have put a bullet in Agent Fissure's face if it wasn't for Juliet keeping close on his heels. But who could blame him, the bastard actually had the nerve to tell Carlton to get him a coffee. To which he replied by throwing his on the floor, telling the agent to 'lick it up like the heinous bitch he was', then storming out of the precinct to cool off.

Despite the jointed efforts of the SBPD and FBI, they were getting nowhere on the case, and Carlton wanted the dirt-bag rotting on a cold slab. More importantly he would like the precinct to be one hundred percent fed-free. That is why after much deliberation, Carlton decided to let Shawn in on their progress and consult with him. Being head detective, Carlton would also be able to spend their time together alone, without being under the watchful eye of the CO's.

XxXxX

Carlton waited in the empty room for them to bring Shawn in. As soon as he laid eyes on the former Psychic consultant, carlton felt his stomach turn. In three months Shawn had lost an unhealthy amount of weight and had prominant dark circles under his eyes. At least there were prominant dark circles under his right eye, the other was covered in a nasty, fresh looking was also sporting a busted lip that was at least a couple of days old, his left arm was in a sling, and if he wasn't mistaken he was walking with a slight limp.

Shawn gave Carlton a small smile that had no real feeling in it. "Hey Lassie." He said without a trace of his usual bravado.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, this?" Shawn said lifting his injured arm for a moment. "It's not that bad."

"Is it broken?"

"Nah, it's just a sprain. I'm actually scheduled to get it taken off later." Shawn explained. "Is there something you wanted Lassie?"

Carlton's tongue was frozen in place. _Why is Shawn playing this off so cooley?_

As if reading his mind, Shawn spoke up. "This isn't the worst I've gotten while I've been in here." He paused as he noticed Carlton's expression change again. "Remember Lassie, I put my fair share of criminals away too. As much as any cop."

"Shit." Carlton's eyes widened in understanding. "They're treating you like a cop in here aren't they?"

"You know, you're the only person other than my dad and Gus that's come to visit me. Not even Jules came." Shawn said evading the question.

"We've all been busy with that damn serial killer." Carlton explained, taking the focus off of his injuries. "If it helps, O'Hara wants to come but she doesn't want to look week in front of you. I think she's afraid of crying, and with all of the stress that's been on her, she might."

"Tell her not to worry about it. I would feel bad if she cried over me anyway." Shawn said then cocked his head curiously at Carlton. "So, if everyone's so busy with the case, why are you here? Shouldn't you be working?"

"It's my day off." Carlton explained

"Oh, really?" Shawn gave him a skeptical look. He knew carlton too well to believe that he wouldn't spend his day off working, especially on a case this big.

"fine. I'm here because... well, we haven't been able to get anywhere on the case, and those asses Fissure and Marquez aren't sharing too much with us."

Shawn's eyes narrowed as Fissure's name, but seconds later they softened back up. "I take it you need my help then?" Shawn said with a faint glimmer of his old smugness. "You know I'm not Psychic right? I can't just divine clues and killers for you."

"Spencer, I never believed that you were psychic. If you recall, I spent most of that first year trying to disprove that you were before I just gave up trying." Carlton said. "I talked to Henry a while back to gage just how good your real abilities are. Now I know that I only need to show you these once for it to be permanently stored in your head." Carlton said laying a manila folder down in front of Shawn.

"Isn't this illegal detective?"

"Since when has that deterred you in the past?"

"Me? Never. You? All the time."

"I don't want this man killing any more people Spenser. We only have seven months to catch him before he gets up and relocates again. Now, will you help me?"

"Of course Lassie. I was never NOT going to help you. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing. You're talking about helping me commit a felony here Lassie. If you get caught you could end up in here with me."

"At this point I don't care, as long as that bastard is off the streets."

"I do care." Shawn said in a completely serious tone. "You don't know how bad it really is in here Lassie. The only reason I am still alive is because I was only a consultant. It'd be so much worse for you Lassie, I don't think you'd last too long."

"Then we better make sure that no one finds out. You can't tell anyone."

"Who would I tell?"

"Exactly how often does Gus visit you?"

"You mean I can't tell Gus?"

"Not unless you can get a message to him without being seen or overheard."

Shawn thought it over for a few seconds before a broad smile washed over his face. "I've got an ingenious idea. Lassie, do you have a pen and paper handy?"

Carlton rolled his eyes and handed Shawn what he asked for. Shawn scrawled a quick message, which to Carlton looked like a jumble of random letters as he tried to read what the younger man was writing. When he was finished he folded it in a way similar to how a junior high school girl would do it and handed it to Carlton. "Please give this to my BFF Gus-Gus. And be sure to tell him to use decoder number Z."

"Number... Z?"

"He'll know what it means, and dont forget to say number!"

"Smooth Spencer, real smooth."

"I thought so." Shawn said with a smirk. "Now, let's take a look at those case files, and make sure you tell me your deepest thoughts Lassie."

When Shawn finished going over all of the information about the victims and crime scenes , both past and present, he had Carlton relay any personal thoughts and opinions that he had. When he was finished talking, shawn glanced quickly at Carlton's watch and stood up.

"I have thirty seconds before they drag me out." Shawn explained seeing the questioning look in Carlton's eyes. "Thanks for everything Lassie."

"Don't mention it Spencer, I know if the situation was reversed you'd do the same for me."

Shawn looked like was about to say something when the door opened a CO entered the room. "Time's up spencer."

"One second please." Shawn said, then he hugged Carlton, stunning the older man for a second. Shawn buried his head in Carlton's shoulder and discreetly mumbled a message for him. "Bring crime scene photos next time." He then pulled away from him. "See ya Lassie."

Carlton nodded and gave him a smile. "I'll see you soon Spencer."

"I'm coming Steve!" Shawn said as he bounded up to the CO.

"You look surprisingly more energetic and happy than you were an hour ago." the CO stated. "And my name is not Steve."

"I know, you just look like a Steve." Shawn said smiling happily as he glanced back at Carlton before disappearing from view.

Carlton felt a sudden warmth in his stomach as he saw the light hit Shawn's eyes when he smiled. Had he really been able to restore that glowing aura that was missing from him since he walked into this place? He suddenly felt a surge of rage towards the man responsible for extinguishing such a bright light. _That many better that he doesn't cross me again. I don't think O'Hara will be able to restrain me if he does._

* * *

A/N: I'd like to point ot to people that don't know, Prison is hell for former cops, I think there is usually a special cell block for former cops, but i don't remember, and shawn never was one so he wouldn't have been placed there. But here's a little of what to look foward to in my next chapter... Gus being sneaky like a ninja, a Gus and Shawn flash back, Lassie being sneaky like a ninja, possibly a Jules freak out moment, mentions of or a visit from Henry, Shawn wumpage, and Shawn gets a buddie!

Unfortunatly for you guys there more than likely will be no Shawn/Lassie interaction in the next chapter... but I will probably have my decision about what i want the Shawn/Lassie relationship to be... keep in mind if i do have Shassie it won't be too graphic... i mean Shawn's in prison and any conjugal visit time would be spent discussing the case anyway.

~Legal


End file.
